﻿482 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  obtain 
  boat 
  building 
  material, 
  as 
  the 
  trees 
  growing 
  in 
  the 
  Lesser 
  

   Antilles 
  were 
  not 
  suitable 
  for 
  canoes. 
  Carib 
  raiders 
  were 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   raiding 
  the 
  north 
  coast 
  of 
  Hispaniola 
  in 
  search 
  for 
  Arawak 
  victims 
  for 
  

   their 
  cannibalistic 
  practices, 
  but 
  also 
  for 
  Arawak 
  women, 
  whom 
  they 
  

   took 
  with 
  them 
  into 
  captivity. 
  Mona 
  Passage 
  separating 
  Porto 
  

   Rico 
  from 
  Santo 
  Domingo 
  was 
  frequently 
  crossed 
  by 
  Arawak 
  sailors, 
  

   Mona 
  Island, 
  in 
  mid-channel, 
  affording 
  a 
  convenient 
  shelter. 
  

  

  Fire-killed 
  trees 
  were 
  felled 
  by 
  firing. 
  The 
  trunks 
  were 
  gouged 
  

   out 
  with 
  beveled 
  shell 
  celts 
  or 
  with 
  stone 
  axes 
  after 
  alternate 
  proc- 
  

   esses 
  of 
  burning 
  and 
  charring 
  to 
  loosen 
  the 
  wooden 
  fiber 
  to 
  be 
  

   removed. 
  The 
  width 
  of 
  beam 
  was 
  increased 
  by 
  inserting 
  thwarts 
  

   or 
  transverse 
  beams 
  of 
  wood. 
  A 
  unique 
  invention 
  was 
  the 
  building 
  

   up 
  of 
  the 
  gunwales 
  with 
  a 
  plaited 
  bulwark 
  of 
  sticks 
  and 
  reeds 
  knitted 
  

   together 
  with 
  vines 
  and 
  pitched 
  with 
  gum. 
  Herrera 
  describes 
  the 
  

   canoes 
  as 
  "boats 
  made 
  of 
  one 
  piece 
  of 
  timber, 
  square 
  at 
  the 
  ends 
  

   like 
  trays, 
  deeper 
  than 
  the 
  canoes, 
  the 
  sides 
  raised 
  with 
  canes, 
  daubed 
  

   over 
  with 
  bitumen." 
  Use 
  of 
  cotton 
  sails 
  and 
  awnings, 
  decorative 
  

   designs 
  in 
  paint 
  and 
  carving, 
  all 
  were 
  traits 
  making 
  the 
  West 
  Indian 
  

   dugout 
  canoe 
  a 
  highly 
  developed 
  invention. 
  Paddles 
  rather 
  than 
  

   sails 
  were 
  the 
  ordinary 
  means 
  of 
  propulsion. 
  A 
  long 
  paddle 
  having 
  

   a 
  crutch-shape 
  handle 
  was 
  generally 
  employed. 
  Long 
  voyages 
  were 
  

   not 
  infrequent. 
  For 
  instance, 
  three 
  Lucayan 
  Islanders 
  escaped 
  from 
  

   Santo 
  Domingo 
  and 
  the 
  bonds 
  of 
  Spanish 
  slavery 
  and 
  attempted 
  

   to 
  sail 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  Bahamas. 
  They 
  were 
  recaptured 
  when 
  they 
  

   had 
  practically 
  completed 
  their 
  journey 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  100 
  miles. 
  

   Bailing 
  was 
  accomplished 
  with 
  a 
  calabash; 
  also 
  by 
  rocking 
  the 
  boat. 
  

  

  The 
  large 
  native 
  vessel, 
  supposedly 
  Mayan, 
  encountered 
  by 
  Colum- 
  

   bus 
  during 
  his 
  fourth 
  voyage, 
  when 
  off 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Guatemala, 
  was 
  

   engaged 
  in 
  a 
  trading 
  expedition, 
  but 
  no 
  adequate 
  evidence 
  has 
  ever 
  

   been 
  presented 
  that 
  such 
  trading 
  vessels 
  from 
  the 
  Central 
  American 
  

   mainland 
  ever 
  reached 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Santo 
  Domingo 
  or 
  even 
  Cuba, 
  

   or 
  that 
  materials 
  such 
  as 
  it 
  carried 
  for 
  trading 
  purposes 
  ever 
  were 
  

   seen 
  by 
  Spanish 
  explorers 
  in 
  the 
  Greater 
  Antilles. 
  Neither 
  were 
  

   aboriginal 
  Jamaicans 
  willing 
  to 
  sail 
  their 
  canoes 
  northward 
  across 
  

   the 
  strong 
  Caribbean 
  current 
  to 
  the 
  southern 
  coast 
  of 
  Santo 
  Domingo. 
  

   A 
  single 
  Indian 
  was 
  picked 
  up 
  by 
  Columbus 
  during 
  his 
  first 
  voyage 
  

   while 
  sailing 
  from 
  Tortuga 
  Island 
  to 
  the 
  northern 
  coast 
  of 
  Haiti, 
  a 
  

   comparatively 
  short 
  distance. 
  

  

  Another 
  instance 
  or 
  two 
  might 
  be 
  cited 
  from 
  the 
  Journal 
  of 
  

   Columbus. 
  During 
  his 
  first 
  voyage 
  he 
  found 
  individual 
  Indians 
  

   paddling 
  their 
  dugout 
  canoes 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Lucayan 
  Islands 
  to 
  the 
  

   other. 
  For 
  provisions 
  such 
  sailors 
  carried 
  cassava 
  bread 
  and 
  a 
  

   calabash 
  of 
  water. 
  

  

  